Apple’s Surprise WWDC Hit: A $99 iPhone

Let’s be honest–even with a product-packed keynote like the one that Philip Schiller gave today during the opening of the World Wide Developers Conference in San Francisco, the hardcore Apple fanboys and girls among us were hoping for that perennial favorite, the “one more thing moment,” preferably in the form of a newly re-energized Steven P. Jobs.
Jobs, of course, isn’t expected to return to the helm of the company until later this month, and while Schiller didn’t offer a literal “one more thing,” he did manage to sneak one into the proceedings with slightly less fanfare. In amongst the seemingly endless list of iPhone apps and features, after introducing the $199 16GB iPhone 3GS and the $299 32GB version of the same handset, he added, relatively unceremoniously that the 8GB version of the old iPhone 3G was sticking around.

It was a move that echoed recent similar ones taken by Apple, including the introduction of the iPod Classic and the decision to keep the last generation White Macbook on the shelves, after the introduction of its unibody successors. It’s something of a slight shift away from Apple’s sometimes narrow focus on the latest, shiniest products at the expense of presenting offerings for more budget-minded consumers.
Some of this shift can no doubt be attributed to the recession. While Apple has yet to go so far as introducing, say, a low-priced netbook, the company has been testing the waters of budget products–albeit with ones that have already been market-tested and have since lost some of their luster.
What’s most fascinating about this latest move is the price itself. $99 is a bold statement on Apple’s part. $299 and $199 are all well and good, but being able to describe a luxury item as costing “under $100” (even if it’s just one dollar under–before tax) is an entirely different ballgame. For those who’ve complained that the introductory price was the only thing holding them back from picking up the handset, a $99 iPhone seems almost too good to be true.
Rumors have been swirling around for some time about a Wal-Mart only $99 iPhone. It’s a combination that makes a lot of sense. For a phone whose identity seems so tied to cappuccino-drinking city-dwellers, it’s the sort of one-two punch that just might bring the phone an even wider exposure–and beginning today, it’s a reality. Not only that, due to the fact that Apple made almost no cosmetic changes to the device, the $99 iPhone is virtually indistinguishable from the $299 model.
Granted, even at $99, there are still those absurd AT&T data plans to contend with, but heck, that’s really Apple’s problem, right? And given how little the company mentioned the carrier during today’s address, one gets the feeling that the honeymoon may not be long for this world.